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Melbourne’s inner suburbs are home to some of Victoria’s most overcrowded schools, with state schools in Carlton, Parkville and Clifton Hill at more than 110 per cent capacity.
Documents released under freedom of information laws show 56 state schools have enrolments beyond capacity, including Altona College in Melbourne’s west, Dromana Secondary College on the Mornington Peninsula and Nossal High School in Berwick.
The list of crammed schools is dominated by sought-after campuses with small zones, schools in population growth areas, and those that accept large numbers of children outside their zone. The over-enrolled schools are located in all parts of the state, except rural areas – from Melbourne’s inner, middle and growth suburbs to regional cities.
The Education Department’s “enrolment pressure index”, an internal measure of demand that is not ordinarily made public, also shows that 14 state schools are at less than 10 per cent capacity.
The relevance of school zones has been a hotly debated topic this year, after the government moved to crack down on more than 100 of Melbourne’s most sought-after state schools and imposed geographically smaller “non-standard zones” on 17 schools in a bid to discourage “school shopping”.
Most low-enrolment schools are in rural areas, or have recently opened, such as Port Melbourne Secondary College, which only enrolled year 7s last year. There are more than 20 rural state schools with 10 or fewer enrolments.
The index also shows that many regional schools are bursting at the seams. Three of the most crowded campuses are in regional centres: Kurnai College’s Morwell campus at 119 per cent capacity, Ballarat Primary School at 115 per cent capacity and Phoenix P-12 College in Sebastopol at 114 per cent.
Peter Buckingham, managing director of Spectrum Analytics, which helps schools plan for sustainable enrolment, said the index varied greatly from one school to another.
“Schools with high index are often in the very high-growth areas; for example, Wyndham Vale, where the schools are not keeping up with the population,” he said.
“It is interesting that many of the schools with low index are regional farming communities. Many of these schools are just fighting for existence in the country and maybe economics will prevail, and they will be closed.”
But Julian Szafraniec, principal and partner of SGS Economics and Planning, said small rural schools ensured children did not have to travel long distances for education.
“Given their location, it’s unlikely they can address any enrolment pressure from other regional cities, but it’s important they stay open for as long as viable to support these smaller towns,” he said.
School capacity can be difficult to measure and is somewhat flexible, he added.
Szafraniec said portable classrooms could be used to deal with the “lumpy and unpredictable” nature of rapid enrolment growth in new communities, but shouldn’t be seen as a long-term solution.
University High School in Parkville is at 110 per cent capacity.Credit: Justin McManus
“Ultimately, there needs to be sufficient permanent capacity in local schools for these growing communities once they are fully established.”
Katie Roberts-Hull, chief executive of education charity Think Forward Educators, said Melbourne’s CBD did not have enough schools.
“The first thing I noticed is that Carlton Gardens Primary and University High School [in Parkville] are both very over-enrolled. This is what I expected, as the zones for these two schools cover Melbourne’s CBD, which has increased in population significantly,” she said.
“I think there has been a misalignment with urban planners and Departments of Education. This has been highlighted for greenfield developments many times before, showing issues where families build a new home, only to be left without a government school for years.
“However, similar issues are happening for urban infill areas in the inner cities.”
Box Hill High School was one of the 102 state schools issued with an enrolment plan for this year by the Education Department. The school, located in an eastern suburb dotted with skyscrapers, can only enrol students inside the school zone, or siblings of current students.
Principal Kellie Ind said her school had grown to 104 per cent capacity because of an increase in housing in the area and the campus’ tiny space.
“We are surrounded by roads, train line and the council oval, so there’s no more space or classrooms,” she said.
Another in-demand school is Taradale Primary School, located 100 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, between the popular tree-change towns of Kyneton and Castlemaine.
Taradale had just two students and was on the verge of shutting down in 2012. Now, it has 75 students and is deemed to be at 119 per cent capacity, according to the department’s enrolment pressure index.
Principal Christopher Burgess said the school didn’t feel crowded, although word had spread that it was a zoned school.
“Quite often people will preface their calls with, ‘I’m not sure if I’m able to enrol at your school’,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of families saying they’d be prepared to move to get into the school.”
The Education Department has been building about a dozen new schools a year, predominantly in outer growth areas, and is on track to open 100 new schools by 2026.
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